


The slide of the knife

by erikssiren



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, But otherwise it's all canon-based, In that Clint and Phil are a couple throughout it, M/M, Posessed!Clint, at least as far as I remember, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 07:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1183585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erikssiren/pseuds/erikssiren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during The Avengers, slightly AU: Clint struggles to keep his memories of Phil Coulson away from Loki's control. Phil questions a caged Loki in the hope of saving Clint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The slide of the knife

Being controlled by Loki wasn’t like floating in a dream, it was excruciatingly painful, like he was being picked apart seam by seam and stitched back together too tight with thick thread.

But there was a part, a small part still intact that remembered who he was, those he cared about and screamed at the rest of him to recognize its presence. This piece kept safe his memories of Coulson: flashes of genuine laughs hidden behind too-tight ties and well-pressed suits; kept preserved the rare moments of emotion from Natasha: soft smiles and tears falling from clear green eyes.

But Loki refused to relent even after he pushed and shoved his way into the new creation he had sewn. He pulled out the information like stuffing, and words Clint had kept behind clenched teeth for years spilled from his mouth like water.

“Tell me about them,” Loki demanded as he pulled out images of Nick Fury, Maria Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D; and Clint did because in this roughly-sewn mind he could find no reason to have secrets between himself and the god of lies.

“Tell me about them,” Loki whispered as he ripped away memories of Barney and the circus, of the nights huddled on the street. And Clint did, though the only true part of him left recognized this request was of malicious glee rather than strategy.

“Tell me about them,” the god gloated as he cradled Natasha and Phil in his hands. Clint hesitated. And Loki pounced. “Tell me why a man like you, a man who came from nothing, is nothing and could so easily be replaced should have such loyalty,” he growled and Clint resisted, clawed against the thick binds around his mind. “TELL ME,” Loki screamed and Clint heard an echo, the same words in a smaller, more desperate voice that was still unmistakably Loki’s.

Railing against himself, Clint told Loki everything about Natasha, because he knew she could handle this masochistic god. Knew that she would forgive him for the intimate details that rushed out of him. He resisted against saying anything about Phil for the same reasons. Because he refused to let this demon touch anything related to Phil.

But Loki pressed and Clint’s head ached, his teeth cracked with the pressure of keeping his secrets in. The small part of Clint that still belonged to himself strained to keep his memories safe until finally he broke and the words tumbled haltingly from Clint’s lips.

If anything still existed within him that didn’t belong to Loki, it would have cried.

 

* * *

 

“Let me go in there,” Phil asked as Nick Fury walked out of the holding area. “Let me talk to him.”

“No,” the director responded, his pace never faltering. Phil kept up without missing a beat. “We need answers, real answers.” Fury turned a corner, Phil half a step behind. “You’re too emotionally invested in this.”

“And Natasha isn’t?” Coulson kept his voice low, eyeing the other agents as they passed in the narrow hallway.

“It’s different and you know it,” Fury said, his tone a mixture of finality and frustration. “She can keep a level head and get us answers.”

“I need answers too,” Phil insisted, angrily pulling on the director’s arm to force him to stop. “I have to find out what Loki’s going to do with Clint.” He meant his voice to stay level and calm, but it broke with emotion at the archer’s name.

“That’s why you can’t go in there,” Fury said softly. He sighed, “Phil you’re my best friend and the best handler in this agency so know that I mean this with respect: you going in there could ruin any chance we have of figuring out this guy’s plan.”

Phil nodded, knowing Fury was right, but the words still stung. Something must have shown on his face though, because his friend and director sighed again.

“Let her go in there first, if she gets what we need then you can go in after,” he said. “But you have to be on alert, you know the protocols.” Phil nodded, barely able to contain the fierce glee that filled him. He was going to face Loki, the god who stole the man most important to him and Phil was going to do everything he could to get it back.

Phil walked slowly into the low-lit chamber, ignoring the urgency Natasha had brought in her wake at the discovery of Loki’s plan. He slowly approached the glass walls encasing the Norse god, who sat on the opposite side, head bent as though in prayer.

“I didn’t think they’d let you come,” the mischief maker whispered in dark glee. His eyes shone with victory as he lifted his gaze to meet Phil’s. For his part, the agent did his best to keep his face blank and impassive; tried to remind himself this was no different than facing any other prisoner in interrogation.

Except it was.

“And why would you think that?” Phil asked, sliding his hands in his pockets slowly, all the signs of nonchalance and slight boredom. Loki grinned wider.

“Barton told me all about you,” he gloated. “It took some convincing, I’ll admit. But soon he was drawing a very detailed picture of your….relationship.”  The god’s voice was low and smooth; like the slide of a sharp knife, it cut swiftly and left behind a bright pain.

“So you know everything, then?” Phil’s voice shook and he shifted from one foot to the other, forcing himself to remain calm.

“More than everything,” the god growled with a manic grin. “Of every moment and emotion from the minute you had him in your sight.”

“Are you going to have him kill me too?” Phil asked, struggling to find footing in his line of questioning. “In…how did you put it, every way I fear?” His voice remained as steady as possible; analytical, as though Phil was simply trying to solve a puzzle rather than discover a way to save Clint’s life.

“Oh no,” the god chuckled darkly. “You’re much better suited as a martyr; I’m going to kill you before your precious lover wakes and have him cradle your cold corpse in his arms.”

Phil took a few steps around the edge of the cage, eyes downcast as though in thought. He raised them to meet the god’s cold and calculating gaze. “Is this before or after you set him on Natasha?” He asked flippantly, like he didn’t believe a word Loki said while he tried to suppress the shiver that tingled down his spine. Loki’s words were too close to a real possibility for Phil to handle.

Before he could get his answer, a low vibration shook the room. It was barely detectable above the thrum of the machinery, but the sudden loss of engine noise was loud and clear. Phil stepped back and grabbed a railing, just in case, and glanced at Loki. But the god had returned to his meditative state, his dark hair glistening in the light as his head bowed again.

Before Phil could take a step towards the door, a loud roar echoed through the ship and the manic smile grew on Loki’s face once more.

“Looks like the monster has awoken,” he said gleefully. “If I were you, I’d try to find Barton before it was too late.”

Later, as Phil sat in a pool of his own blood watching as Thor plummeted to the ground, he couldn't help but lament that he never found Clint, never had a chance to see him one last time.

Loki glanced over at the dying agent, a small smile on his lips. “I told you this would be your fate.” He stepped back triumphantly. “I regret only I won't see Barton's face when he finds you.” He laughed as he turned away.

Phil, of course, only had one answer to that.

“You’re going to lose.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The characters are not mine, but the story is. Please don't copy this and claim it as your own. There has been a problem with this lately and I wanted to add this here.
> 
> This came out of a desire to see two things: Loki forcing Clint to tell him about Phil and their relationship and to see Phil interrogate Loki before the Hellicarrier attack. I hope it worked out!


End file.
